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TUSD board moves specific mascot examples to administrative rules, expands nondiscrimination language
Summary
Trustees debated whether to single out Native American mascot terms in the district nondiscrimination policy; they directed staff to move specific example language into administrative regulations, amended the policy to add 'ethnically' alongside 'racially', and adopted the revised policy language and waived second reading.
The Torrance Unified School District board on Sept. 8 debated revisions to board policy BP 0410b on nondiscrimination and whether to include explicit examples of derogatory Native American mascots.
One trustee said the early paragraph already requires district programs and activities be free of 'any racially derogatory or discriminatory' names and asked why the policy singled out a single ethnicity. Others said naming Native American terms clarifies the district's position in the face of ongoing debate in professional sports and public society. Trustees proposed a compromise: retain broad nondiscrimination language in the board policy while moving specific lists of example terms into administrative regulations (ARs) and to expand policy wording to include both 'racially and ethnically derogatory.'
The board directed staff to draft administrative regulations that include sample terms and to research historical incidents across ethnicities. A motion to remove the highlighted specific Native American examples from the board policy and place them in administrative regulations, while adding the word 'ethnically' to the policy's nondiscrimination paragraph, was moved, seconded and adopted. Trustees also voted to waive second reading on the revisions.
Why it matters: The policy change keeps a broad nondiscrimination standard in the board policy while allowing staff to maintain a detailed and updateable list of offensive terms in administrative regulations. That approach creates a general, legally framed policy at the board level and moves operational specifics to administrative guidance the district can revise without board action.
